Ear-drum.



No. 628,05I. Patented July 4, I899" G. P. WAY.

EAR nnuln. (Application filed lay 21, 1898.)

\No Model.)

IIVYENTQQ mz nowma vzrzas co. PHo-roui-no, WASHINGTON, uv c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE I. WVAY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WILLIAM H. SELDON, JR, OF SAME PLACE.

EAR-DRUM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 628,051, dated nly 4, 1899.

Application filed May 21,1898. Serial No. 681,285. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE P. Win, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, county of WVa'yne, State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Ear-Drums; and I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention has for its object an improvement in devices to assist in restoring the hearing and is related particularly to that class known as ear-drums.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional View through the ear, showing the drum in position. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the drum.

Many cases of defective hearing are due to a ruptured tympanum. This membrane when perfect assists in supporting the ossicles or bones of the ear, which are apt to sag when the support afforded by this membrane is withdrawn, greatly impairing the hearing. If the perforation of the membrane is of a considerable size, it allows free access of dust, cold, moisture, and other irritants into the tympanic cavity, and therefore the aurist sometimes advises the insertion of a piece of absorbent cotton to prevent the entrance of foreign matters and the too-rapid evaporation of moisture from the surface of the tympanic membrane. If the rupture is of such a character as to have removed the support afforded the ossicles and this chain of small bones tend to sag downward, disks of paper, linen, silk, &c., are sometimes inserted to provide the support required. All these de- Vices tend to plug up the ear and impair the hearing.

1 am aware that ear-drums formed of rubber or other suitable material have been made; but the construction has been such that in a short time the outer wall or shell of the drum collapses, due to the pressure of the surroundin g membrane or from other causes, and thus instead of serving to keep the bones in place allows them to sag, while the drum resolves itself into a plug, interfering with the reception of sound by the auditory nerve.

Referring to the drawings, Ais the auditory canal; B, the tympanic membrane; 0, the ossicles of the tympanum.

D indicates my improved drum, which is preferably formed of rubber; and it consists of an enlarged cylindrical portion D, at one end of which is an annular wall cl, projecting from which is a closed hollow stem D of much smaller diameter than the cylindrical portion D, said hollow stem being adapted to pass through the perforation that may exist in the tympanic membrane and bear against the stapes E, while at the same time supporting the balance of the ossicles or small bonesof the ear. The open end 01 of the drum may be contracted to afford means for its removal, and by this construction the drum will not cling to the walls of the auditory canal, as might be the result if the wall or outer shell of the drum were straight. When in position, the shoulder formed by the annular wall cl rests against the membrane B, and thus protects the tympanic cavity from dust or cold, the annular ring also serving to keep the wall of the drum distended for the reception of sound, while the portion D forms a support for the ossicles and also serves to convey sound to the auditory nerve.

What I claim is 1. An ear-drum consisting of a cylindrical portion, an annular wall at one end and a closed hollow stem of much smaller diameter than the cylindrical portion, said hollow stem adapted to project through the tympanic membrane and bear against the stapes or inner drum, substantially as described.

2. An ear-drum consisting of a cylindrical portion slightly contracted at one end, an annular wall at the opposite end and a closed hollow stem of much smaller diameter than the cylindrical portion, said hollow stem adapted to project through the tympanic membrane and bear against the stapes or inner drum, substantially as described.

, In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE P. WAY.

Witnesses:

S. E. THOMAS, FRANK DUWE. 

